Quality of post-WW2 German .380 PPKs?

I

Ignition Override

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Now and then a very nice example is seen at a local show or on 'that' website.

Considering that many recent S&W PPKs had to be recalled, are all West German PPKs considered to be the highest quality for post-WW2 PPK quality and manufacturing standards?

Have the chance to attend the National Arms Show February 28 in Atlanta, and I've never attended a really large show.
 
I have owned a German PPK, an Interarms PPK/S and two stainless PPK/S and PPK made by Smith and Wesson under license. I have not had a problem with any of them. I gave the stainless PPK/S to my daughter and I recently bought the stainless PPK. Mine are well built and function well. They are a lot more expensive than the first one I bought that cost me $98 in 1967.
 
I have had my Walther, PPKs in .380 since 1971, when I was a dealer and got it wholesale for $67.00. After 7 years of every day wearing in a shoulder holster, much of the blue was worn, so I had it nickeled. Still looks like a new Nickel Gun today some 44 years later.

Bob
 
I have a s&w ppk/s .380 stainless I picked up a year ago & it's one of my favorite to shoot. It feels great in my hand & I like the weight of the gun. When & why did s&w have to recall these models?
 
R Kittine,

Would you believe I paid $98 in 1967-68 at Kmart? This just before the 1968 gun control act went into effect.

None of my Walthers have had problems with different style/weight of bullets.

After Smith and Wesson started building them and added the beavertail, I think some of their pistols had problems with feeding. I bought mine after they had the problems worked out.

I gave the PPK/S to my daughter a couple of years ago and finally found one on the shelf locally about 4 months ago. This last one is a PPK in stainless. I have not shot it a lot yet but it has not choked on anything I have run through it.
 
PPKs

The only problem I had was that I put the recoil spring in backwards and it would jam by coming out the front of the barrel. Once I turned the spring around, no problem. But then I forgot a couple of times on the last shot of the mag the slide would jam by staying back and it would take a lot of strength to pull it back and to battery. Maybe it gets too hot and the SS expands? But it is very accurate and easy to point.
 
The PP/PPK was really designed around the 7.65mm Browning (.32 ACP); the .22's worked OK*, but the .380's never were as good and were much more ammunition sensitive than the .32's. After 1968, for all practical purposes, the only caliber available in the US was the .380, and the guns had many problems, mostly due to bullet shape. To make matters worse, Remington redesigned its bullet to function better in the many "bringback" Beretta M1934 pistols in the country, but found it wouldn't work in the Walthers. It was that combination that failed quite publicly when Princess Anne's car was fired at and her guards' Walther pistols jammed with Remington ammunition.

*The .25ACP version is so scarce that I know of no reliability information for it.

Jim
 
Joe,

Some models of 1911s also are picky about the recoil spring being placed with the closed end toward the rear. Put it in backwards and the spring will slow the slide down enough to cause it to jam. The manual on my Smith and Wesson Pro-E was misprinted and told me to do it otherwise and the gun failed to run until I talked to customer service and they told me the manual was wrong. A friend of mine at the range had the same gun and had the same problem. Turned the spring around with the closed end away from the muzzle and life is good.
 
A message to me described post-war "Made In W. Germany" to be among the highest quality, and were manufactured by the French at Manurhin until 1986.

I was a little disappointed to read that the vast majority are in .32 Auto, while those produced in the US reportedly are all .380 Auto.

As a collector, .32 Auto should not matter (as with the Sauer 38H and WW2 Mauser Hsc), but as an alternative for my first carry gun, the Sig 232, a first Walther in .380 seems preferable during a gradual search.
 
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^^^Most PP's and PPK's manufactured for commercial sale in the USA have always been .380, regardless of who made them.

Interarms was Walther's U.S. sales agent for most of the pistols' postwar production run, and they were cognizant of the general perception among American buyers that .32 ACP is inadequate for defensive use.

OTOH almost all PP's and PPK's made for the WWII German military and/or wartime commercial sale were 7.65/.32 because 9mm Kurz/.380 was not a standard Nazi military cartridge and thus was not in the military supply chain. (Most wartime commercial buyers were German military officers who didn't want to carry the heavier P.08 or P.38, so most "commercial" guns were effectively military guns in reality.) Also, most pistols sold on the postwar European police market were 7.65/.32 as well, and many of these pistols have made it to the USA as surplus.

Lastly, Interarms DID make .32 PPK's and PPK/S's in the USA, just not very many of them relative to the .380's.
 
I have carried (and shot a lot) a stainless 380 Interarms PPK/S since the early 90s. I don't know if I am lucky, or just have the right hold for this gun, but it takes horrendously lousy ammo to cause any kind of jam. With any quality hp it will go on and on forever.

Also, it is a whole lot more accurate than it has any right to be. Many pistols come and go, but this one is a keeper.
 
With the feed ramp polished I never had a feeding problem in my Interarms .380 Auto. Didn't know that there was a PPKs prior to the 68 gun control act. Thought the whole reason for the "s" model was because the PPK did not meet the specs to not be considered a "Saturday Nigth Special" PP Barrel on a PPK frame if I remember correctly.

Bob
 
rkittine said:
Didn't know that there was a PPKs prior to the 68 gun control act.
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There wasn't, and I don't believe anyone in this thread has said there was.

Re: my prior post, "PPK's" = more than one PPK, whereas "PPK/S" = PPK slide and barrel on PP frame. :)
 
What he said....

I have carried (and shot a lot) a stainless 380 Interarms PPK/S since the early 90s. I don't know if I am lucky, or just have the right hold for this gun, but it takes horrendously lousy ammo to cause any kind of jam. With any quality hp it will go on and on forever.

Also, it is a whole lot more accurate than it has any right to be. Many pistols come and go, but this one is a keeper.
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I too, have a 90's Interarms (made by Ranger Manufactoring) PPK and not only has it NEVER jammed, it is easily the most accurate 380 I have ever shot.
 
My good friend and roommate recently bought an Interarms PPK in .380 and the gun was in pretty rough shape when he bought it. It looked nice on the outside but the feed ramp was gritty and there were some damaged/worn-out parts. Also the recoil spring was just way too heavy.

But after a detail strip and the replacement of some parts, such as the mainspring and the hammer spring, it runs great. It does not tolerate even the slightest bit of limp-wristing, and is slightly ammo-sensitive, but otherwise it's been almost 100% reliable since then and the gun is a tack driver at 25 yards or less. Soft shooter too for such a small gun.

So the American PPKs can be made reliable but it seems like there's a good chance it won't be in reliable condition at the time of purchase. I have met other people with American PPKs at the range and they all either had unreliable guns or had done the same kind of work that my buddy did to make their gun reliable.

Maybe you can already find one that's been fixed up though. I've never looked for one myself and so this is all based on the experiences that I've seen other people have.
 
Very interesting.

Jaughtman: I will try to spot one with "Ranger" inscribed, unless a post-WW2 French-produced PPK ("Made In W. Germany") is found in the near future.

Can you guys explain whether PPKs have only a thumb safety, or a decocker function (allowing immed. DA pull) similar to my Sig 232 for carry with a lowered hammer?

Just found interesting comments about the decocker function (in most post-war types) when using the safety lever.
Some people state that the lowered hammer is not "drop safe", as with my Sig?
True?
 
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I think.....

Jaughtman: I will try to spot one with "Ranger" inscribed, unless a post-WW2 French-produced PPK ("Made In W. Germany") is found in the near future.
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I think that ALL of the Interarms made in USA ones whether PPK or PPK/S were made by Ranger. They won't have it inscribed anywhere on the pistol through. I only know that as Ranger was based here in Alabama and I remember reading about them being the contractor for Interarms to make the pistols. Search one of the Walther forums for much more info. On mine, the safety acts as a "hammer drop" more so than a true decocker - it drops the hammer pretty forcefully.

J
 
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This is an American PPK. Sold by Interarms. Made by Ranger under license from Walther. The US made ones have a decent reputation. But, I've had some that refused to work. I think the PP series are at their best in .32.

I looked for one of these for a long time. I'm guessing for every 50 made in .380, they made one .32. They are pretty scarce.
 
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